Branded by Lust: 4 (Night Seekers) (8 page)

“We need to divide this into sections,” Ford spoke up. “We
can each take a section and start searching.” He looked at Logan. “Does that
sound like a plan to you? I think you and Miz Black are in the best position to
give us guidance on this.”

“The first thing we’d tell you is to take the heaviest
artillery with you that you’ve got. Anything close to an assault rifle.
Something that could take down a bear. Because this beast defies anything else
you know about creatures.”

“We also need to look for caves,” Rebecca told them. “Rock
caves, ice caves, any place where the beast can hide out between its forays.
Look for the carcasses of small animals. That’s how it usually slakes its
thirst between human killings.”

Danvers and his two men looked at each other.

“Everyone here hunts,” he said. “If what my guys have isn’t
enough I’ll make sure they get what they need.”

“What about notifying people in the area?” Doug wanted to
know. “I don’t want to start a panic but people ought to be aware of what’s
happening.”

“About that.” Logan exchanged a look with Rebecca. “I know
this will really sound like something from weird science fiction, but there are
indications this…thing…can also assume human shape.”

Danvers slammed his hand down on the table. “Wait a minute,
Logan. That’s just damn impossible. I’m going along with this because of what I
dug up on the internet but changing to human form? That’s fucking impossible.”

Logan shook his head. “Go back to your computer, Rance.
Start looking up stuff on shapeshifters. It’s an unbelievable thing to get your
mind around, but no more than some of the other stuff going on in the world
today.

He saw the skeptical expressions on the faces of Doug and
Ford.

“I know it sounds farfetched but the scientists we have
working on this have done tons of research on the ability of certain species to
shift and we think they’ve been able to re-create this as they breed these
beasts.”

I could show you but what would you think if I suddenly
turned into a wolf here in this room?

“Plus,” he added, “people that we questioned about previous
victims had mentioned things like a new handyman who showed up on someone’s
farm from out of nowhere. Another time someone said the man who was killed had
picked up a stray dog. In both cases the handyman and dog were nowhere to be
found. Not even their bodies.”

A heavy silence fell over the table.

“Look,” Rebecca said. “We have to tell people something.
What we did in Maine was warn them to be very wary of strangers, to be careful
of wild animals invading their property and to always arm themselves before
opening their doors or leaving their homes. Can you at least go along with
that?”

For a long moment no one said a word. Then Doug turned
toward the sheriff.

“Rance, whatever we do or don’t believe, we can’t ignore
what’s in front of our eyes or take a chance with people’s lives.” He looked at
Logan.

“We need a map that has all the ranches and isolated homes
on it within this circle. Also houses on the outskirts of towns that are in
isolated situations. And we should travel in pairs. No one out there alone.”

Danvers blew out a breath. “That’s still a lot of area to
cover.”

“We can do the same thing we did in Maine. Assign sections,
use snowmobiles and never search alone. Rance, you can use guys in patrol cars
to hit the outskirts of the towns. They’ll know who’s in the most danger. The
rest of us can partner up.” He looked at Rebecca and grinned. “How are you at
riding a horse?”

“A horse?” She blinked. “I’ve done some recreational riding.
Why?”

“Because there may be some places more accessible to us on
horseback. We’ll see. Okay, everyone. How soon can we get this show on the
road?

“Unless we have a sudden crime wave we should be able to
start out first thing in the morning,” Doug said. “Leave a skeleton crew to
handle anything that comes up.”

“I’ll tell the night patrols to be on the lookout for
anything strange,” Rance put in. “Anything at all. And to call it in before
they do anything. That way we can get started.”

“Can we get Google maps of the area?” Logan asked. “If so I
can print them out on my computer. Also a map of each town?”

Doug nodded. “Most of them. I can show you the links.”

“Okay. I can always call back to our home base and get our
team leader to pull up and send us what we can’t get.”

“Team leader?” Ford asked. “What kind of outfit do you work
for, anyway?”

“A highly specialized one,” Logan answered. “We have only
one focus. To find and destroy the Chupacabra. And now it seems the place where
they’re being bred as well, and bring down whoever is responsible for this.”

“That takes a lot of money, doesn’t it?”

Logan nodded. “The man who put this team together is a
billionaire. The devil beast killed his wife and daughter so he’ll spend
whatever it takes to get this job done.”

He looked at the sheriff again. “Rance, you’ll need to
figure out what you want to tell your deputies. How much, I mean. And make the
assignments. You have enough snowmobiles?”

The sheriff nodded. “If not I can always borrow some.” He
looked around the table. “And we’re agreed the word we put out is a possible
bear sighting?”

“That doesn’t help if the beast shows up in human form,”
Logan pointed out. “And it won’t explain all the additional patrols out. Let’s
forget about the ranger for the moment. How about if you pass the word that
there’s a rumor of a prison break at Montana State Prison. That the escaped
prisoners could be headed this way toward the Canadian border and possibly
passing through here. Be sure and tell them the rumor is unconfirmed but you
don’t believe in taking chances.”

Danvers rubbed his chin. “I guess I could make that work. It
could be a plausible reason for warning people about strangers. I’d have to
feed the same story to my staff but I think I could make it stick.” He snorted.
“Better than trying to sell them a story I still have trouble believing.”

“As long as it works I’m good with it,” Logan agreed.
“Remind them too that all the snow could have driven the wild animals closer to
civilization and to keep their rifles handy. Oh and one more thing. The beast
almost always attacks its prey at night, although it can insinuate itself into
the situation during the daytime.”

“We’ll meet first thing in the morning?” Rance asked. “To go
over this one more time and assign people areas to cover?”

“Yes. Good idea.”

“Can I ask that we do it here again? I’ll be giving my men a
bare minimum of information. Just what we cooked up to tell the general public.
I don’t think I can really make them understand what we’re dealing with.” He
raked the fingers of one hand through his short hair. “Hell, I can hardly
believe it myself.”

“Just as long as they’re on alert. And meeting here in the
morning is fine.” He looked around the table. “Eight o’clock good for
everyone?”

They all nodded.

“Okay then. Let’s get it done.”

* * * * *

Jade Robinson pulled into her garage, parked her car and
lugged her packages into the house. Running into Logan Tanner had sure been a
surprise today. She hadn’t seen him in more than a year, not since their
breakup and the deaths of his brother and sister-in-law. Someone told her he’d
left town to take some kind of specialized job but now here he was, sexier than
ever and with some woman.

She’d somehow known from the beginning that he hadn’t looked
at their relationship as anything permanent. At least as far as he was
concerned. Their situation had been on again off again and while she kept
hoping for something more he made it abundantly clear he wasn’t going there
with her.

Now here he was, back in Overlook, big as life and with a
woman she wanted to kick to the curb. She certainly had been bitchy enough to
Jade. The sense of possession that radiated from Logan had been enough in
itself to piss her off.

Jade sighed and set about putting her purchases away. No
sense wishing for something that wasn’t going to happen.

She changed into sweats and booted up her computer, ready to
check her emails. She was getting a lot of business from her website as well as
a nice number of client referrals. Business was really good and she didn’t have
to leave her house to go to work. And Overlook was a nice place to shut out the
world after the disaster of the city.

Too bad there didn’t seem to be any more eligible men than
when she’d left. All the good ones lit out for someplace else as soon as they
could. Well so be it. She guessed she’d had enough of men for a while anyway.

And what was Logan so concerned about that he repeatedly
warned her to be careful? She figured it was just so much bullshit. She knew
how to handle herself. Kept both a nine-millimeter handgun and a hunting rifle
fully loaded at all times. But nothing ever happened in or around Overlook.

She was just reading her third email when the phone rang.

“Jade?”

Damn Logan Tanner. His voice could still cause ripples
through her.

“Yes. What can I do for you, Logan?”
Nothing that I want
to, that’s for sure.

“I’m just calling to make sure you’re okay and you pay
attention to what I said today. I wasn’t kidding.”

She gave a phony laugh. “Logan, you might be able to sell
that story to some people but not to me. The ranger was killed by a wild
animal, maybe a bear. Not some mythical creature.”

“Jade.” She heard the strained patience in his voice. “This
is not a joke. Just please. Don’t open the door to any strangers and don’t pick
up any stray animals.”

“I don’t do either of those things, Logan. Why do you care,
anyway?”

There was a slight pause.

“We were friends for a long time, Jade,” he said at last. “I
don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Friends?” She snorted. “Is that what we were?”

“Look. I didn’t call to debate the quality of our
relationship. Just to tell you not to let anyone into the house that you don’t
already know and to stay away from stray animals. Believe the story or not, you
still need to take precautions.”

“Fine,” she snapped. “Shall I keep my rifle by the door?”

“Might not be a bad idea,” he agreed.

“I was joking, you idiot.”

“Well, I wasn’t.” She could tell he was out of patience.
“Listen, I have to go. But the sheriff is running patrols twenty-four/seven
until we kill this beast. I’ll be sure he has someone swing by your house on a
regular basis.”

“I’m fine, Logan.” Jade was irritated now. If he didn’t want
her, why the hell did he care about what happened to her? “Tell Sheriff Danvers
he can babysit someone else.”

“Just…take care.” He hung up with a firm click.

Take care? He wanted her to take care? She could damn well
take care of herself without his interference. His story was such a crock of
shit anyway she didn’t know why people believed it.

But as she hung up her own telephone she pushed away from
her desk and made the rounds of the house, making sure every door and window was
securely locked and closing all the blinds. Finally—chiding herself for being
such an idiot—she got out her hunting rifle and checked it thoroughly. She left
it by the front door, standing like a headless soldier.

“Satisfied, Logan?” she asked.

Only he wasn’t there to hear her. Damn him.

* * * * *

“I take it that didn’t go so well.” Rebecca leaned against
the doorjamb in Logan’s study and office combination. Frustration carved lines
in his face.

“Not at all.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I just
wanted her to take precautions. Hell, like almost everyone else, she doesn’t
even believe there is a danger.”

“Well, from a female point of view, I don’t think she’s in a
mood to take much advice from you anyway.”

Logan’s jaw clenched. “I was never anything but honest with
Jade. I never had the kind of feelings for her that she expected and I was
careful to make sure she knew it. It was her choice to continue the
relationship under those circumstances. But that doesn’t mean she needs to put
herself in danger to spite me.”

Rebecca moved over to stand beside him. “Go ahead and call
Sheriff Danvers and make sure her house is on the patrol route, like you told
her. And if it will make you feel better, we can do some drive-bys ourselves.”

“That’s okay with you?”

“Yes, if it will give you peace of mind.”

Logan tugged her down onto his lap. “Thanks for
understanding.”

A chill raced along her spine as she thought of the damage
the Chupacabra could do to a woman like Jade. “I wouldn’t wish that horror on
anyone. So do what you have to.”

“Thanks. I appreciate your understanding. A lot.” His gaze
shifted and he seemed to be staring at a spot past her head.

Rebecca cocked her head, studying him. “Something wrong?”

“I don’t know. I got some kind of weird vibes from Ben.”

“Weird vibes?” She pulled back a little to give herself a
better look at his face. “How? In what way?”

“Just…I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I’m probably
imagining things.”

“He seemed very aware of everything you laid out and wasn’t
giving you a hard time. I felt as if he was on our side.”

“Me too. I’m probably just imagining things, as wound up as
I am about this case.” One of his hands caressed her cheek and she saw his eyes
darken with heat. “Maybe what I have to do right now is take your mind off this
whole situation for a little while. Both of our minds. Think I can do that?”

She smiled at him. “Oh I have no doubt. But don’t we have
things to do?”

“It will be dark soon. Danvers will have his patrols out. I
need to video conference with Ric but for the moment that’s about all we can
do. We’ve seen some ugly things today, Bek. Things that brought back even worse
memories. I think we can take a little break to wipe that away for the moment,
don’t you?”